Swiss Intellectuals and the Cold War

Anti-Communist Policies in a Neutral Country

Bibliographic Data

ID12747966
AuthorsHadrien Buclin (Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume19
Issue4
Pages137-167
Publication date2017-12-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Cold War Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1520-3972 • E-ISSN: 1531-3298
PublisherThe MIT Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1162/jcws_a_00767
OpenAlexW2779433039
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited10

Political and cultural life in Switzerland in the 1950s was characterized by a particularly fervent anti-Communism. This position was sustained by Swiss authorities as they promoted “spiritual national defense,” a policy that consisted—in the struggle against Soviet influence—of subsidies for patriotic works of art or essays and the covert prosecution of citizens (in particular, intellectuals and artists) suspected of having Communist sympathies. This article examines the rise of Swiss anti-Communism, including the reestablishment of political censure at the beginning of the Cold War, which led to a series of legal procedures against Communist intellectuals and on several occasions to prison sentences. The article assesses the impact of major international events on official policy measures implemented in Switzerland, including the Korean War, the rise of McCarthyism, and the Soviet intervention in Hungary. It also examines the attenuation of “spiritual national defense” in the 1960s with the rise of East-West détente

Cold war · Communism · Communist state · Covert · Economic history · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Communism, Protests, Social Movements · European history and politics · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics · History · Law

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